Best Bars in Adelaide: Cocktail Bars, Wine Bars, Pubs and the Leigh Street Bar Scene

Adelaide's bar scene is one of Australia's most underrated, with the Leigh Street and Peel Street laneway bar precincts providing a concentration of quality cocktail bars, natural wine bars, and neighbourhood pubs that rivals Melbourne's equivalent areas in quality and exceeds it in affordability. Adelaide's smaller population and the relatively lower cost of operating a small bar has created a bar culture where quality-over-quantity is the norm.

Proof (43 Waymouth Street Adelaide CBD) — Proof is Adelaide's most celebrated cocktail bar, with the exceptional spirits library, the creative cocktail program, and the intimate CBD setting making it the reference point for quality cocktail culture in South Australia. The bar's commitment to classic cocktail craft and the depth of the spirits collection have earned it consistent Australian Bar Awards recognition.

Maybe Mae (15 Peel Street Adelaide CBD) — Maybe Mae is Adelaide's finest small bar, with the quality natural wine and cocktail program, the intimate 40-person Peel Street setting, and the consistently excellent hospitality making it a destination for Adelaide's bar community and a benchmark for the city's quality bar culture. The Peel Street laneway location provides exceptional atmosphere.

Leigh Street and the CBD laneway scene — the Leigh Street and Peel Street bar corridor provides Adelaide's finest bar-hopping circuit, with the Clever Little Tailor (Leigh Street), the Stag Public House, the Udaberri (Leigh Street), and the various Leigh Street small bars creating the most Melbourne-like bar precinct in Adelaide. Weekend evenings on Leigh Street are among the most enjoyable bar experiences in any Australian capital city.

The Stag Public House (299 Rundle Street, East End) — the Stag is Adelaide's finest heritage pub, with the exceptional South Australian craft beer and cider selection, the quality kitchen, and the East End heritage building creating a pub experience that combines the best of the traditional Australian pub with a contemporary craft beer and food sensibility.

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